Is Procrastination Stopping You Living The Life You Want?

I don’t know about you, but some days I feel like I have so much to do that I end up procrastinating for hours as I don’t know where to start. Of course, feeling this overwhelmed is not productive and you need to know when it is time to step back, prioritise and slow down.

There are so many distractions around us all the time – our phones, Netflix, social media to name a few things.

Perfectionism can seem like a positive trait, however it can hinder productivity as there always seems like there is something that can be improved. Or on the other hand, you want something to be perfect so you feel the need to wait until you are ‘in the right mindset‘ to start it…and this can lead to procrastination.

Does the below sound familiar to you?

But why do we procrastinate?

There can be many different reasons, and some of the time procrastinating gets mixed up with being lazy, when in actual fact procrastination is an active process going on in the mind as you are making the conscious decision to find something else to do instead of the task in hand.

According the researchers, 20% of the population are procrastinators, and another study showed that procrastination has quadrupled in the last 30 years.

How can this be stopping me living the life I want?

Because that is what happened to me.

I wanted so badly to change certain situations in my life, but instead of working towards these goals, I would not believe in myself and put them off all of the time. Eventually you will hit a crossroad in your life and you have two choices – to stay in an unhappy situations living day-in-day-out, or you can take the first step towards changing your life. It is hard and scary but totally worth it. So how can we stop procrastinating?

MAKE A LIST OF PRIORITIES

There will be tasks that need doing on a daily basis that should go at the top of your priority list. These should be what you sit down and tackle first. If it helps, set an alarm or give yourself an allotted time slot to finish these most important tasks in. This way you can get them out of the way and you don’t have to stress about them as the day goes on.

SCHEDULE FUN

As well as scheduling in your tasks, chores and work, make sure you make the time for something you enjoy that you can do after you have completed your tasks. Having something to look forward to can help with motivation and it will also help with stress levels.

AVOID MULTITASKING

I am a chronic multitasker and end up feeling completely overwhelmed sometimes which leads to procrastination. Focus on one task at a time if you can; that way you can tick tasks off of your to-do list one at a time and it means you can put far more concentration into what you are working on.